Complicated
by Laugh After Pain
Summary: Phones was a regular Rubik's Cube. Beat/Neku


Beat was more than willing to admit that he wasn't the brightest guy around. His grades were nothing worth being proud of, and puzzles and riddles weren't his idea of a good time. Complicated things could never hold his interest for long - there were better things he could be doing with his time.

Then again, there was nothing better than hanging out with his best friend, and Beat had never come across anyone or anything more complicated than Neku.

Neku liked spending time alone but hated being lonely.

Neku loved graffiti art but hated the smell of spray paint.

Neku didn't care about appearances but didn't go anywhere without his trademark headphones.

Yeah, Phones was a regular Rubik's Cube.

Bit by bit, though, Beat was wheedling his puzzling friend's true self out of his shell. Neku wanted to open up more to people since playing the game - it had been a seriously life-changing experience for the once reclusive redhead. Beat, known for being a "what you see is what you get" kind of person, was more than willing to help his former partner get in touch with the world around him.

"Ya know, Phones," Beat mentioned once, dragging a fry through a blob of ketchup as the two sat in the local burger joint together. Neku looked up from his dollar menu burger, which he'd been concentrating on a little too intensely for fast food. Grinning a little lopsidedly, Beat continued, "Maybe you should work on yo' threads, ya think?"

"Excuse me?" Neku asked blankly, putting his burger down carefully and reaching for his orange soda. Beat ate a few fries and washed them down with a gulp of cola before elaborating.

"Well, ya wanna open up and get to know people, roll with some new crowds, ya might wanna think about a new look." Grinning cheekily, Beat added, "Not everybody gonna dig the 'phones' look, yo, and that collar hides yo' pretty face. Know what I'm sayin'?"

Neku took an indignant sip from his soda, and Beat chuckled; though not nearly as prissy as Joshua, Neku could be a little high strung at times. "I'm not going to try on new clothes just to get people to like me," Neku aruged. "I'm not some lame junior high girl, you know. I'm not going to start wearing make-up and flipping my hair to get in with the popular crowd."

"Ain't the popular crowd you be rollin' wit' if you wearing make-up and flippin' yo' hair, Phones," Beat guffawed, and Neku angrily whipped a fry at him. "Hey!"

"You know what I mean," Neku muttered, taking a small bite from his burger. Beat chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. Jus' sayin', you don' look like a guy who wants to open up jus' yet."

"I'm working on it," Neku answered with a shrug, taking another bite of his burger. "It may not seem like it, but I feel like I've come a long way. If I just keep moving at my own pace, I'll get there eventually. When it feels right for me."

Beat watched Neku eat for a few moments, baffled. One minute, Neku was pissed and flinging fries at him, and the next he was calm and focused. Like that. Beat couldn't figure out how Phones was turning the dial that quickly - or at all. Once the skater hit a strong emotion, it was nearly impossible to distract him or to change the subject.

But Phones was different - he just morphed into the moment, peeled off one emotion and slipped into another with a kind of natural fluidity, almost undetectable. Even Beat, who was Neku's best friend, if not exactly perceptive, couldn't quite calculate the exact moment when the redhead shifted from one of his many faces to another.

"You've come a long way, yo, I know that," Beat answered finally, taking a large bite of his own double cheeseburger. "You doin' a'ight so far. Doesn't mean ya don' still need advice every once in a while."

Neku chewed thoughtfully for a moment and glanced up at Beat, who returned his gaze steadily. After a moment, Neku swallowed the last bite of his burger, nodded his head vaguely, and reached up, pulling his headphones down around his neck with one hand and unzipping the top of his jersey with the other, pulling the fabric away from his face. Beat grinned widely, and Neku shifted slightly, not used to being without his accessory barriers. Finally, he reached over and grabbed his soda, sucking on the straw a little harder than necessary, gulping the drink down a little too quickly. Chuckling, Beat returned to his own lunch.

"Hey, go at yo' own pace, man," he said shrewdly, looking down at his burger. He felt something hit the crown of his head suddenly, and a fry fell from his head to his plate. Beat looked up at Neku quickly, but the redhead was already looking away, his distant eyes turned toward the window and the busy streets of Shibuya, arms crossed atop the table, an empty soda cup grasped loosely in one hand. Already gone, already tuned into the next emotion, already turning the corner and taking off in a completely new direction.

Neku was complicated, and that was what Beat liked best about him.


End file.
